Calculation of quantum discord in higher dimensions for X- and other specialized states

Quantum discord, a kind of quantum correlation based on entropic measures, is defined as the difference between quantum mutual information and classical correlation in a bipartite system. Procedures are available for analytical calculation of discord when one of the parties is a qubit with dimension two and measurements made on it to get that one-way discord. We extend now to systems when both parties are of larger dimension and of interest to qudit–quDit with \(d, D \ge 3\) or spin chains of spins \(\ge 1\). While recognizing that no universal scheme is feasible, applicable to all density matrices, nevertheless, a procedure similar to that for \(d=2\) that works for many mixed-state density matrices remains of interest as shown by recent such applications. We focus on this method that uses unitary operations to describe measurements, reducing them to a compact form so as to minimize the number of variables needed for extremizing the classical correlation, often the most difficult part of the discord calculation. Results are boiled down to a simple recipe for that extremization; for some classes of density matrices, the procedure even gives trivially the final value of the classical correlation without that extremization. A qutrit–qutrit (\(d=D=3\)) system is discussed in detail with specific applications to density matrices for whom other calculations involved difficult numerics. Special attention is given to the so-called X-states and Werner and isotropic states when the calculations become particularly simple. An appendix discusses an independent but related question of the systematics of X-states of arbitrary dimension. It forms a second, separate, part of this paper, extending our previous group-theoretic considerations of systematics for qubits now to higher d.